Out on my run about an hour ago and I came across an accident scene. Car backing down a steep sloping driveway apparently backs out into traffic just as a cyclist is coming by, end result is cyclist going through the back window of the car. EMT’s were working on the guy as I went by, he was strapped to a backboard and covered in blood. Front of his bike looked like either the fork and steering tube were sheared off or crunched back under the main part of the frame. I hpe this guy is OK but it did not look good at all.
Brian - thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention. Some folks feel that, at the end of the summer, we’re getting a little too complacent on our bikes. If you’ll look at my blog from last week www.johnpostmdsblog.blogspot.com I wrote about two locals who crashed on similar routes very near each other, one needing hip surgery, the other a fusion of his neck broken in two places!. There was also a local biker killed by a driver who was possibly texting.
Everybody. Please keep your guard up, strobes and head lights in good working order and on. We always lose in a one on one with a motor vehicle.
Good luck to that cyclist.
Dr. Post,
I saw your note about an athlete who broke his neck.
I was an All American Triathlete in 2006 and won the 2008 Elkhart International Tri to qualify for nationals. Four weeks (July 2008) after Elkhart I raced a 30K TT. A Lexus made an illegal left turn in front of me. I hit the Lexus broadside at 30 mph, shattered the windshield, flew 10 ft in the air and broke C2 and C5 (driver was ticketed and there will be a settlement). I had surgery to fuse C2 to C7 (5 vertebrae). I am in the midst of a 18 month rigorous Physical Therapy program. The question is can I ever race tris or TTs again? In other words will I be able to hold my head up high enough long enough to ride a TT bike. Do you know of anyone with a similar injury who returned to racing? Thank you
John Burrell
John - That’s quite a story! From the orthopedists perspective, you’re lucky that you’re not either quadraplegic, or dead…or both. Think Dale Earnhardt.
As you know, but readers here might not, with the fusion you’ve had there has been some limitation of flexion and extension but less so on rotation thus you’re ability to see side-to-side on the bike is probably not hampered a great deal. Your “aero” position is probably higher. I think the best one to answer your question is the man who did the surgery. How solid is the fusion? What kind of stress can it absorb and come back fighting? What kind of load are you now shifting to the C7-T1 level? What happens when you crash and hit your head?..yes we all crash including yours truly. These are the kind of things you need to know before you make that decision. I’m going to bet that, in the surgeons mind, and probably yours too, that the risk outweighs the benefit.
Might you concentrate your efforts on, say masters swimming or the local running scene? There’s truly magic standing on the starting line of the Boston Marathon mere hours before the race takes off from Hopkinton imagining how Johnny Kelly The Elder (or Younger for that matter) felt with the cheering crowds and Boston a mere 26.2 miles east!
Dr. John,
Good helpful comments. Thank you.
My surgeon said he never had a patient with my fusion return to tri or bike racing. He also said my fusion is unusual. He did have a patient return to run racing.
My Physical Therapist takes this as a challenge and says if I stay in his program a total of about 18 months he will get me back to tri and bike racing. I like his attitude. We will see.
John B.
John - I guess my main thrust was the** risk** of permanent neurologic compromise you assume when you crash again, I have little doubt that like many iron willed folks on ST, that you are tough enough physically to return to the sport. But that’s just me.